Every person should seek to have three individuals in their life: a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy.
A Paul is an older person who is willing to mentor you, to build into your life. Not someone who’s smarter or more gifted than you, but somebody who’s been down the road. Somebody willing to share their strengths and weaknesses — everything they have learned in the laboratory of life. Somebody whose faith you’ll want to imitate.
A Barnabas is a soul friend, somebody who loves you but is not impressed by you. Somebody to whom you can be accountable. Somebody who’s willing to keep you honest, who’s willing to say, “Hey, you’re neglecting your spouse, and don’t give me any guff!”
A Timothy is a younger person into whose life you are building. For a model, read 1st and 2nd Timothy. Here was Paul, the quintessential mentor, building into the life of his protégé — affirming, encouraging, teaching, correcting, directing, praying.
Do you have these three people in your life?
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Howard Hendricks, Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary in MEN OF INTEGRITY, Vol. 1, no. 1; submitted by Malladi Murthy in India
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5116]